Free printable calendar

 Last year I purchased an 8 1/2"x 11" printable calendar from Etsy, and I used it all over the house...one in the basement, one on my fridge, in my homeschool notebook. I was just about to search for my 2011 printable calendar when I ran across this fabulous little blog. In addition to the free calendar, she has some fun projects and lots of great ideas. Enjoy!

Merry and Bright

Waking up on Christmas morn to this (thanks to WH for setting it up- thanks to Grandmama and Pop for finding it used!)

Sweet A and Baby Darling with her handmade felt ornament (B is for Baby Darling)

Christmas morning (which was Tuesday for us)

Warren's new Collinear Hoe...most wanted gift of the season

This doesn't begin to capture the madness of Christmas morning with 17 grandchildren 12 and under! (and 4 were not in town!)

I found myself with a lovely new cast iron dutch oven in cherry red, and two more cardigans (let's keep the tradition alive!) which I love. Christmas was spent at my inlaws with a sweet time together with three of Warren's siblings and their spouses and kids. The week flew by leaving us with many happy memories. We're heading for home in the lightly falling snow, back to life on the farm (and the chickens).

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits-

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A good read

If you need some encouragement to stress less about what you are serving for dinner and focus more on being joyful, find it here. The list of questions at the end was especially refreshing.

Embellish Knit Month at Grosgrain

I think I'll start a series on "projects most people are not bothering to do during the Christmas season." I'm sure it would be a big hit! Every time I think of posting something, it feels like it's not of general interest. But then again, I'm not the only one enjoying the Grosgrain series (which, in her defense, started in November) so there must be people out there who are working on non-Christmas-y projects right now.

Along those lines, here is a fabulous link to a series of tutorials on how to turn any blah sweater into something beautiful. I tried my hand at it last night, and while it didn't turn out perfect, I am inspired to keep trying (especially since it's only a $3 Goodwill sweater at stake).

If you subscribe to her blog you can go through the list of sweater re-dos in your reader...there are so many great ones! (ETA: Subscribing to her blog will provide a wealth of ideas, but I just noticed that if you click on the picture above it will take you to a page featuring all her sweaters.)

This kind of project is PERFECT for someone like me, because I am drawn to the most boring of clothes. So I already own all the duds she is using as examples! I'm looking forward to adding a little pizazz to my wardrobe. I'm not sure if I've ever typed out the word pizazz before.

Funny thing is, in my own boring and simplistic way, I had a post on resizing clothes all typed out, and then never got around to putting it together with pictures. Look for it soon (and if it's not relevant you can read it in January).

Not much explanation needed

This boy does not like to have his picture taken!

Drinking their Christmas milk (i.e. eggnog)

By the time the tree was purchased and brought home and trimmed, we were all a little tired (and I just watched from the couch).

I promised the kids a little tree of their own. You can't really tell from the picture, but they decorated it the same way they trimmed the family tree: with the ornaments all at the bottom.

And now SNOW! What a great way to begin the Christmas season. I'll be happier when my husband is home from his trip, off the interstate, and in the warm house with the rest of us!